Evil mother made infant son have needless surgery to claim £130,000 in benefits and con celebrities

The mother, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, pretended her child was sick to claim benefits

An 'evil and cruel' mother caused her young son to
undergo needless surgery and treatment at three hospitals during a
six-year charade that he was seriously ill.

The woman conned the Royal Family and celebrities as she
claimed £130,000 in benefits to spend on holidays and home
improvements, a court heard.

Her son, who is now eight, was confined to a wheelchair in public and eventually hooked up to a drip.

The mother, who posed as a qualified nurse, arranged for her
son to meet Camilla Parker Bowles because of his 'illness', while Simon
Cowell was so moved by a letter outlining his plight he sent them
tickets to the X Factor.

The mother claimed the boy had cerebral palsy, cystic
fibrosis, the throat disorder dysphagia, was allergic to wheat and
gluten-based foods and even faked blood samples to convince medics her
son was diabetic.

He appeared on national television and in magazines, while his
school spent thousands of pounds adapting the building for his
wheelchair.

Police said his bedroom was like 'a scene out of the TV show
Casualty' with a specialist bed, medical equipment and boxes of liquid
food.

But out of the public gaze, the boy, who is now being cared
for, was allowed to run free and eat hamburgers, chips, Yorkshire
puddings and other foods he was 'allergic' to.

Officers said when the family's home in Devon was searched,
they found a video of him running on a beach ' without a tube in
sight'.

One police source yesterday compared the case to the sketch on
the BBC comedy series Little Britain, where the character Andy leaps
out of his wheelchair to perform amazing feats when his friend and
carer Lou's back is turned.

He added: 'The boy told people that he was OK and didn't have
drips at home. He told his school he could run and play out of his
wheelchair.

'He was made out to be the sickest kid in Britain - and all
the time it was his mum who was the sickest person around.'